Lawmakers look to boost FinTech in Georgia

FinTech is big business in Georgia and the Georgia General Assembly is considering what steps, if any, should be taken to help our state stay atop of this growing industry. The Joint Study Committee on Industry Incentive for Financial Technologies and the Payment Processing Industry met three times this fall and recently reported its findings. The committee, created by Senate Resolution 883, was comprised of eight members including six lawmakers and two leaders of the Georgia Department of Economic Development (GDEcD).

The report defines FinTech as “any technology that supports the financial services industry, such as payment processors, credit cards, and debit cards. This technology can also be used with trading stocks and bonds, insurance platforms, Bitcoins, financial data analytics, currency conversion, or mobile commerce. It also affects industries such as cybersecurity, healthcare I.T., or the logistics industry.”

Findings include:

• FinTech creates between 30,000 and 40,000 jobs in Georgia directly, 80,000 jobs indirectly and 105,000 globally.
• Approximately 60% of all FinTech or payment processing companies are headquartered or have significant operations in Georgia.
• $72 billion in revenue is created by FinTech in Georgia annually.

The American Transactions Processors Coalition (ATPC), the largest industry-led economic development alliance in Georgia, created a map showing the location of Georgia’s FinTech and payment processing companies in an effort to brand Georgia’s Transaction Alley (which the report refers to as Transaction Valley). Georgia remains a hidden player in this field, despite being home to a huge segment of the industry. The area is home to some of the largest companies in this industry with more than 15 million merchants relying on Transaction Alley and approximately 70% of all US card transactions being processed in this area. The branding of Transaction Alley is one way to highlight and call attention to how much FinTech business is already thriving in Georgia.

Challenges, or impediments to continued growth, in this industry include:

• Lack of skilled workers
• Need to increase Georgia’s reputation as a leader in the industry
• Need to educate more students to enter FinTech

Solutions thus far include:

• An Associate and Bachelor’s Degree in FinTech, as well as a Bachelor’s in cybersecurity, offered through the University System of Georgia
• Partnerships with FinTech employers and economic development organizations to help determine the skills students need to enter the industry, and to connect students with employers
• UGA’s Georgia Informatics Institute, an interdisciplinary effort to bring the use of informatics (the science of processing data for storage and retrieval) to any degree program in the University

View the full report